Live Like Tre’ Day

By Jack Kiyonaga, Reporter 

Photo by Jack Kiyonaga.

A community event on Molokai last Saturday celebrated the life and legacy of 24-year-old Maui County firefighter Tre’ Evans-Dumaran, who died earlier this year after responding to emergency calls during flash floods on Maui. The Molokai Live Like Tre’ Day is the last of three community events that took place on Maui, Hawaii Island and Molokai, hosted by the Live Like Tre’ Foundation. 

Dona Evans, Evans-Dumaran’s grandmother, explained that the day’s events were a way of honoring him within the different communities he was a part of. 

In addition to being stationed on Molokai for the first year of his firefighting career, Evans-Dumaran also had family on Molokai. He is the great-grandson of Maunaloa resident Janice Pele.

“The connection [to Molokai] is that he has family here…we’re all over here,” said Cameron Hiro, Evans-Dumaran’s great-uncle.  

Hiro also explained that Evans-Dumaran’s mother, Chelsie Evans, “had a different idea instead of a celebration of life…she just wanted to put on a community event to depict Tre’s interests.”

Photo by Jack Kiyonaga.

These interests included being a firefighter, diver, gamer, car-lover as well as an aspiring pilot. Different tables with activities and information were set up at Mitchell Pauole Center to honor these diverse aspects of Evans-Dumaran’s life. The Live Like Tre’ Foundation brought activities for kids like making your own airplane and exploring a fire engine. 

More than just representing Evans-Dumaran’s interests, his family hoped to share some of what made him so special. 

“He gave great hugs,” said Dona Evans. “He always reminded us that he loved us…He was the center. He was the funny one, the one who wanted to do stuff. He just loved on us a lot.” 

The Live Like Tre’ Foundation was established to continue Evans-Dumaran’s “legacy of kindness, love and living in aloha” by providing scholarships as well as small grants for acts of kindness. 

Evans-Dumaran was well known for his “acts of random kindness,” as Hiro called them. 

“We’re going to continue to hug and love each other and say we love each other – continue to do what Tre did with us,” said Hiro.  

“Even if he’s gone, he left a lot of love for the family to carry on,” said Dona Evans. “We’re so grateful for the overwhelming love that we’ve had.”

Tanner Mosher was in the same class at the fire academy as Evans-Dumaran. Mosher, who is from Molokai, was stationed for a year on Molokai with Evans-Dumaran before both were transferred to the same station in Maui. 

“[Evans-Dumaran] had to come home,” said Mosher. 

Mosher remembered small moments with Evans-Dumaran like driving to and from PT classes, stopping for Taco Bell, and working on their cars.  

“You couldn’t not like him,” said Mosher. “[Evans-Dumaran] was younger than me by a year, but it felt like he was my older brother.” 

Molokai residents can support the Live Like Tre’ Foundation at liveliketre.org.

Photo by Jack Kiyonaga.